Monday Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled
  • The Poetry Matters 2012 poetry award “is open to anyone, anywhere who is in Middle School or older.” There is no entry fee. “Cash Prizes are given to 1st ($100), 2nd ($75), 3rd ($50) and 4th ($35) place winners. To receive the cash prize winners must have their poem read (in person or via video) at the poetry reading event.” Deadline: March 23, 2012. (via @femministas)
  • “The United States Forest Service offers residencies of seven to nine days from June through August to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers, to take part in a field project in the wilderness of the Alaskan National Forest. Residents will be paired with a wilderness ranger, with whom they will camp, kayak, hike, and explore the coastal terrain of the Tongass and Chugach National Forests, while assisting with research, fieldwork, and other light ranger duties. Residents are provided with camping equipment, food, and travel to an from the field, but are responsible for their own transportation to Alaska. Residents are expected to donate one piece of creative work to the Forest Service, and to give one public presentation, such as a reading or a workshop, within six months of their residency that in some way connects a community to its public lands (the presentation does not have to take place in the community of the residency). Submit six pages of poetry or prose and a statement of purpose by April 20. There is no application fee. Visit the website for an application form complete guidelines.”
  • The Sustainable Arts Foundation provides Writing Awards ($6,000) and smaller “Promise Awards” to writers (of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry) who have at least one child under the age of 18. “We welcome applicants from anywhere, but will give some preference to residents of the San Francisco bay area.” The next application deadline is March 1; no application fees are indicated.
  • Drew University (N.J.) is looking for an MFA Program Director: “The Caspersen School of Graduate Studies is seeking a director of our low-residency MFA program in Poetry and Poetry Translation. The program is in its fourth year, has a nationally renowned faculty and graduates with a strong record of publication already. The director is responsible for the direction of the program: will teach two students per semester; lecture at the residencies and give a reading; work with admissions to recruit students; supervise program budget; provide orientation for new faculty and students; oversee faculty and students during the correspondence semesters; oversee course/faculty/student evaluations; identify guest writers/poets for readings; work with the dean’s office to set the schedule for the January. June residencies; organise the lectures/panels; oversee the senior panels; track students’ progress; work with the dean’s office to promote the program; assign faculty mentors for students and serve as a liaison with the larger university community. Curriculum development is another important part of the job. For example, our program is distinguishing itself by offering a translation component. The Director is expected to explore options for opening additional such ‘tracks’ in the program, in keeping with the strengths and resources of Drew and the program.”
  • Georgia College & State University seeks an Assistant Professor of English (Fiction): “Undergraduate and graduate teaching, thesis advising, and editing for graduate and undergraduate literary journals. Candidate will be expected to design and offer graduate and upper division courses in literary fiction and creative nonfiction as well as other undergraduate liberal arts courses.”
  • California College of the Arts is advertising for an nontenure-track Assistant/Associate Professor in Creative Nonfiction Writing. “Course load is negotiable and not to exceed four courses per academic year. Candidate will teach regularly in the undergraduate Writing and Literature Program and MFA Program in Writing. Candidate will also participate in program and college-wide service, including curricular development and assessment.”
  • St. Louis College of Pharmacy is looking for a Writer/Editor, Texas State University-San Marcos seeks a Publications Writer, and The New School (New York) plans to hire a Publicity Writer.

    • Words of the Week: Rabbi David Wolpe

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    “My children do not patrol the borders. They do not dismantle unexploded rockets. They do not walk gingerly into cafes, always wondering, always fearful, even in quiet times. There aren’t too many bomb shelters in Westwood. When I express my opinions about Israel’s conduct, which I do, this reality is foremost in my mind. There is a penalty for choosing not to live in Israel: A certain diffidence, a willingness to listen and appreciate the result of a democratic process, even when one disagrees with the result. A corresponding reluctance, at least, to demonize the elected leaders of the Jewish state.”

    –Rabbi David Wolpe, “Wolpe vs. Beinart,” JewishJournal.com

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
  • This week, one of the little ones in Auntie Erika’s life turned 8, and as per usual, he received a birthday gift of a book. I sent him Richard Michelson’s Lipman Pike: America’s First Home Run King, which was recently named a Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Young Readers. Check out this interview with Mr. Michaelson (part of the latest blog tour featuring Sydney Taylor Award titles).
  • The above-mentioned interview pointed me to Richard Michaelson’s website, where I discovered this essay Michaelson published some years back, on writing outside one’s own racial/cultural experience.
  • Win a copy of Joan Leegant’s wonderful novel, Wherever You Go.
  • Chas Newkey-Burden (“OyVaGoy”), presents a list of recommended books about Israel.
  • Terrific essay by Sara Ivry for Tablet on a Judy Blume classic, Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself.
  • The Jewish Book Council has announced the winner and runner-up for this year’s Sami Rohr Prize: “This year’s prize is for non-fiction and is awarded to journalist Gal Beckerman. His book, When They Come for Us We’ll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), is a comprehensive and enthralling chronicle of the history of the Soviet Jewry movement. The judges believe Beckerman’s work shows ‘his clear commitment to becoming a storyteller for the Jewish people.’ This is Beckerman’s first book. The runner-up is Oxford lecturer Abigail Green, for her biography, Moses Montefiore: Jewish Liberator, Imperial Hero (Belknap Press of Harvard University). She receives a $25,000 prize.”
  • Sample excerpts (translated by Jessica Cohen) from Israeli author Alex Epstein’s forthcoming collection, For My Next Illusion I Will Use Wings.
  • You’ll find a (somewhat overwhelming) list of intriguing new titles in Jewish fiction, poetry, and nonfiction in The Jewish Week‘s spring arts preview.
  • And as London’s Jewish Book Week celebrates its 60th anniversary, it attempts to list 60 great Jewish books of the past six decades.

    • Shabbat shalom!

    Friday Find: 10 Ways to Instill a Love for Reading

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Although I don’t have children of my own, I’m deeply invested the cultivating the next generation of readers–especially among the little ones who are related to me. And let’s just say that in certain cases, that has proved to be more–challenging–than others.

    So I’m always interested in others’ ideas and reflections on how to accomplish something hugely important. And I really like David B. Crowley’s “10 Ways to Instill a Love for Reading.” I hope that you do, too.

    Have a great weekend. See you back here on Monday!